Imperial Elective help?

[RAID186]

So could someone explain to me how the system works for Byzantium? I started a game on the William the Conqueror bookmark which lead to me dying and losing the election- so I went back to a Ducal title.

Obviously I can get re-elected but I want to maintain the throne.

So how does the system at its core work, and how can I ensure people vote for me- or rather my preferred heir?

It is hard on the start date I chose, I know- as my Emperor is old, so it doesn't give you the time to prepare but yeah.

Any and all help is appreciated, cheers.

 

[Kapitalisti]

And the emperor in that start is also a pretty useless sack of gyros. Buying favors from the most powerful electors and demanding succession support is the surest way to ensure your kid inherits the throne.

 

[Lycrist Katkiller]

So could someone explain to me how the system works for Byzantium? I started a game on the William the Conqueror bookmark which lead to me dying and losing the election- so I went back to a Ducal title.

Obviously I can get re-elected but I want to maintain the throne.

So how does the system at its core work, and how can I ensure people vote for me- or rather my preferred heir?

It is hard on the start date I chose, I know- as my Emperor is old, so it doesn't give you the time to prepare but yeah.

Any and all help is appreciated, cheers.

I never played that bookmark but as @Kapitalisti said: the Emperor is terrible and his son is even worse

To answer your question

Imperial Elecitive in the Byzantine Empire focuses on martial skill and education and such

Best strategy, I guess, is to educate your second son properly and appoint him your successor.
It means you have to live for another seven years till he's an adult, so choose hunting focus

 

[Serenity84]

Generally, there will be times you'll have to bribe some people to vote for you (buy favors and call in support). If you just start out you won't have the money of course. It's pretty expensive. Start with powerful people who vote for the favorite candidate. That transfers votes from him directly to you.

In the long run if you breed your dynasty it's not a huge issue. Unless they really love you they won't vote for children. So in the meantime nominate a close relative like a brother. It also helps to land some more distantly related dynasty members in newly conquered duchies. If you make them commander they become eligible candidates.
Then once you have a good son you can see if they vote for him. If not another dynasty member is fine too

If you don't want to start in the Old Gods bookmark, try the Alexiad. It's great.

 

[Lycrist Katkiller]

Generally, there will be times you'll have to bribe some people to vote for you (buy favors and call in support). If you just start out you won't have the money of course. It's pretty expensive. Start with powerful people who vote for the favorite candidate. That transfers votes from him directly to you.

In the long run if you breed your dynasty it's not a huge issue. Unless they really love you they won't vote for children. So in the meantime nominate a close relative like a brother. It also helps to land some more distantly related dynasty members in newly conquered duchies. If you make them commander they become eligible candidates.
Then once you have a good son you can see if they vote for him. If not another dynasty member is fine too

If you don't want to start in the Old Gods bookmark, try the Alexiad. It's great.

these days you can also build spikes at the great work in the Empire and try to intimidate electors for a favour

 

[Rydelfox]

One trick I've found works if your heir is losing the election is to just fire the current winner from their council/commander job - they need one of those to be elligable if they aren't closely related to or married to the emperor.

Try giving your chosen heir a bunch of minor titles. These give more reasons to vote for him, as well as generate prestige which will give even more reasons to vote for him. You can also land him, which helps make people want to vote for him as well as making him eligible to be a commander, though their are always risks to landing your heir.
If your desired heir isn't Born in the Purple, definitely give him the Despot title.

Electors' voting power scales with their rank, prestige, and minor titles, so try giving minor titles to electors voting in favor of your candidate so their vote counts for more.

 

[Kurblius]

I find excommunicating rival candidates effective. However, if your heir has great stats it shouldn't be necessary... unless he/she gets sick. Usually anytime I get a notification saying my heir isn't the next Emperor it's because my heir's gotten the stressed/depressed trait. Fortunately, there's a number of ways to address this issue, like joining a hermetic society or inviting content courtiers.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Using favors can help. When I'm faced with a strong non-dynastic candidate that a lot of people are voting for I always name him my court jester, which usually seems to be pretty effective at dropping his support heavily.

 

[Byzantium2000]

Easy make you sure to apoint your relative the Stategos Of Moesia as Heir. I’ve die in the middle of two Seljuk invasions and didn’t even notice he smashed the election. Your oldest son is trash never let him become heir. Bad Emperor ingame bad Emperor in real life.

Also I wouldn’t recommend 1066 for learning the ropes even 1071 under Diogenes is far easier.